 ( chapter two )
MIGUEL DIAZ, NEW KID.

When Miguel Diaz made it into the cafeteria on his first day, the only question was where to sit. He looked around for a moment before seeing an open table with two boys sitting down. "Is it cool if I sit here?" The boy wondered, hoping to find an easy place.

"Ooh. Sorry, tables really blowing up right now. I can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest." One boy wearing a yellow plaid shirt spoke. Miguel sighed. "Okay." He began turning away when the boy shot an arm out. "No, I'm kidding. Sit."

Miguel took his seat, nodding gratefully to the two. "Miguel." The yellow boy nodded back. "Demetri. This is Eli. He's a man of few words." Miguel watched as Demetri suddenly looked up, joining in and watching as two girls walked by. Demetri noticed and sighed. "Dude, don't torture yourself. Those are the rich girls."

Miguel just continued to watch, looking over at the table. "Do you ever talk to them or..." Demetri nodded. "Oh yeah! All the time. We hang out after school, make out, give each other hand jobs. Eli here is the homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, Eli? Talk to them? You realize what table you're sitting at, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college."

"Oh shit, Yasmine's looking at us." Eli spoke, noticing the blonde staring directly at them.

Syd frowned, catching Yasmine's gaze shifting away from the group as her face contorted into one of disgust. "Oh my god, you guys. You see that guy over there who looks like he went down on a lawnmower? He's literally wearing the ugliest sweater I've ever seen." Moon snickered lightly as she looked as well.

Syd frowned, making eye contact with the boy before sending him a small smile, frowning again when he just looked away. "That is so wrong." Sam stated, laughing as well. "Speaking of wrong, check out Fug-lisha." Yasmine continued, turning her attention to a girl Aisha Syd had met once or twice from Sam. "She looks like she ate a picnic table." Moon and Yasmine just laughed at that, Syd catching Sam's eye with a frown.

She hated how Yasmine talked about other people. But what she hated worse was her own inability to stand up against her. She knew she was a coward, allowing Yasmine to terrorize people while standing behind her without a word. She also knew that she didn't want to be a social reject, but it seemed being an outcast was worse for her than watching Yasmine hurt others.

Syd had always been Yasmine's friend, she grown up knowing where she stood and where she needed to stay if she wanted any friends at her school. So it didn't matter that Aisha was actually pretty cool, or that the boy with the lip was actually kind of cute, Syd didn't have the strength to walk away from the only friends she'd ever known. And she felt like a coward.

"What's up, ladies?" Brucks spoke and Syd was brought back to reality before she felt someone wrap their arm around her. She looked beside her to see Kyler, one arm around her, and the other around Sam. He leaned toward Sam, keeping his other arm out of her view as he spoke to the girl next to Syd. "Hey, Sam, looking beautiful." Kyler spoke and Syd frowned, throwing his arm off her shoulder before her attention turned to a different boy who had been walking their way. She'd never seen him before, but when he noticed Kyler waving at him slightly with his now free hand, the boy sighed and walked back to the table with the boy Yasmine had been making fun of earlier.

"See you later, 'Rhea." Brucks laughed, turning back to the girls table. "Who was that guy?" Syd wondered. Brucks looked behind him for a moment with a laugh. "Oh, Rhea? Some dork we found—"

"Just some guy we met over the summer." Kyler cut off, sending Brucks a look. Syd frowned, looking between the two confused before she rolled her eyes, going back to pushing her food around on her tray.

———————

"And up, up, up! Stay tighter. Miss McKinley tighter." Madam Martin directed, pushing back on Syds stomach to make her pull up. "Better, but not good. You need to focus. Otherwise there is no point in you showing up, understand?"

Syd nodded, taking a deep breath as she tried to focus. "Yes, ma'am." Syd lifted and pulled her stomach in, rising on point as her arms lifted over her head in fifth position.

She'd been a dancer her whole life, taking ballet since she could remember. Her father had told her once that her mother was a ballerina before she passed, and so Syd had been put in classes. She didn't know if her dad was trying to pretend her mom wasn't gone with his daughter following in her footsteps or what, but all she knew was he wasn't around enough either way anymore to notice if she was like her mom or not.

"Okay, I want you to work on your Grand Adage movement in time with the song, yes?" Madam Martin questioned, though Syd knew she wasn't really being asked a question. "Yes." Syd replied, focusing as Madam Martin turned the music on. Slowly, Syd began turning her body to execute the Grand Adage, squeezing every muscle she could in her stomach as she moved around.

She brought her leg behind herself as the other went on pointe, engaging even further as she focused on her technique and execution. "Strong, strong, strong." Madam Martin vocalized, queuing Sydney to squeeze her muscles further as she tried to stay on time and technical.

She found her end pose as the song cut out and turned her head backwards, looking at Madam Martin in hopes of pleasing her. The older woman just sent a quick nod Syds way before turning toward the music. "Again."

———————

"I'm telling you, Syd, Kyler's changed. I know he used to be a bit of a dick at times... but he's been really sweet and is taking things as slow as I want. I mean— he even came over and had dinner with my family." Sam spoke, looking at Syd from her computer. The other girl sighed, walking around her room as she looked back at the screen Sam was on. "All I'm saying is once a dick always a dick."

Sam laughed. "You can't really believe that." Syd shrugged, going back to her laptop. "I've never been proved wrong before. Anyone who comes into this world as an asshole tends to stay that way. I've known Kyler a long time and he's been a thorn at my side since I met him."

"People change. And besides, flirting with you isn't a crime. He's a good guy." Sam defended. Syd sighed, Yasmine and Moon thought it was best if Sam didn't know how Kyler often "showed the nerds who's in charge" since they didn't think she'd be able to handle it. Yasmine had also made it clear that it wasn't Sydney's job to tell Sam things that she didn't need to know.

Syd sighed. "Look— all I'm saying is be careful. It's easy to be a nice guy when all you do is text a girl... just don't ignore your instincts." Sam nodded, she was grateful Syd wanted to keep her safe, even if she didn't think it was necessary. She trusted her instincts, and they were telling her Kyler was a good guy.

"Okay, well... I promised Oliver we'd hang out before bed so I have to bounce but I'll see you tomorrow." Syd spoke, waving to Sam. "Okay, see you." Sam replied with a smile, both girls ending the call.

Syd sighed, leaning back in her seat, stared at the ceiling. She knew it wasn't her job to warn Sam, they'd only become friends recently and it was only because Yasmine finally decided to let the LaRusso girl into the group for whatever reason. Syd was happy about it, she liked Sam. She was just worried something would happen with Kyler and Sam would lose everything she's gained.

"Are you just gonna sit up there forever or are we going to watch a movie?" Olive yelled from the living room. Syd chuckled to herself, yelling back, "Calm down! I'm teaching you a valuable life skill called patience!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I have lived with you my whole life, I know patience." Syd scoffed to herself, running down the stairs before jumping over the back of the couch and landing on her brother. "What the— get off!"

Syd laughed, rolling off the younger boy as her fit of laughter continued. "Oh yeah, laugh it up. See how you like the taste of revenge." Oliver muttered before he was suddenly on top of Syd, trying to put all his weight on her. Syd just laughed harder. "Dude, I have to feed you two dinners from now on. You're like a feather."

"I hate you. Like actual hate. Can we just watch the movie already?" Oliver frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. Syd watched for a moment as his frown morphed into a grin and smiled, wrapping her arms around the boy in a hug. He paused for a moment before hugging back and Syd laughed. "You just proved you love me. Suck on that. Now we can watch something."

She got up quick with a grin, not listening to her brother's protests to enjoying her presence and popped some popcorn, turning the lights off once it was done and taking her seat again. "What are we watching?" Syd questioned, turning to Oliver. He sat for a moment before smiling. "Can we watch Grown Ups?"

Syd cocked an eyebrow his way. "Did dad tell you we could?" Oliver sat for a moment. "Uhh—" Syd quickly cut him off, "I'm kidding I don't care. That works for me."

"Yes!" Oliver smiled, pumping his fist. Syd laughed, realizing this was the movie he'd been asking to watch for years but she always said no because he was too young. It was never actually because he was too young, she just was never in the mood. But this night seemed like a good one to finally let him have his moment.

"Okay now shut up, it's movie time." Syd decided, sending Oliver a look as she put the popcorn between them.

After a bit of watching, Syd checked her phone to see three new messages from Moon. Syd are you free right now? She read on. Sydneyyyyy. Last one. Hello? Well whenever you see this, text me!

Syd furrowed her brows in confusion as she turned the brightness down on her phone and texted back. Hey, sorry watching a movie with Oliver. What's up?

Her phone immediately dinged back with a reply. Yasmine wants to decide Halloween costumes right now to give us time to figure it out. Thoughts? Syd thought for a moment, she didn't really care in the end since she knew Yasmine would have final say. No idea.

Haha I was thinking Laker Girls and Sam thought nurses but Yas thought that was too overdone. Thoughts on Laker Girls? Syd considered Moons idea, liking it. It could be a cute way to do a group costume that doesn't involve anyone needing to outshine anyone else. Sounds good to me.

Syd put her phone down before hearing one last small ding. She checked it again only to see Moons final message of the night. Yas agreed so it's settled. We'll talk more about it at school. Night!

Syd placed her phone back down on the couch before turning towards Oliver, only to see him fast asleep. She smiled lightly, just watching her brother for a moment. He had to be her favorite person on earth. She didn't think she'd ever find someone who knew her as well as he did and still enjoyed being around her, it was something special and she knew she'd always do whatever she had to do to keep him safe.

"Hey, Oli. Let's get you in an actual bed, yeah?" Syd wondered, waking the boy. He rubbed his eyes slightly with a nod before making his way upstairs. "Goodnight." The boy called out. "Night." Syd responded, cleaning up the kitchen before heading up herself.

AUTHORS NOTE!
so excited to continue this book I have so many ideas